Wednesday, July 14, 2004

Jeff Blum has a few interesting and enlightening comments about our current photograhy show in Bethesda and discusses James W. Bailey's destruction of his negatives to create the finished photo.

Jesse Cohen has a new DC-centric arts BLOG at Art DC. Welcome to the BLOGsphere! The more we chat, discuss, agree, fight over DC area art issues, the better!

Welcome Jesse!

Just in!

Gehry addition to Corcoran

The DC council has approved $40 million for the Gehry addition to the Corcoran.

According to the info, the Council of the District of Columbia voted yesterday to authorize $40 million in tax increment financing (TIF) in the form of a Note to support the additions and renovations the Corcoran.

So Washington's first Origami building will soon be a reality. Now let's begin to hear the complaining and bitching begin.

We have announced the next date for our highly successful "Success as an Artist" Seminar." The next seminar will be hosted at Fraser Gallery Bethesda on Sunday, August 8, 2004 from 12-7 PM.

The seven hour seminar, which has been taken by nearly 2,000 artists and arts professionals from all over the Mid Atlantic is designed to deliver information, data and proven tactics to allow artists to develop and sustain a career in the fine arts. The seminar costs $80 and is limited to around 50 people. For more details please visit this website.

Fraser Gallery Bethesda is located at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E, Bethesda, MD 20814, one block north of the Bethesda Metro Stop. You can contact the gallery at 301/718-9651 or via email at info@thefrasergallery.com.

Tomorrow is the 3rd Thursday of the month, so the 7th Street area galleries have their extended hours. Click here for details.

And Friday is the 3rd Friday, so the four Canal Square Galleries in Georgetown will have their new show openings. MOCA, Fraser, Alla Rogers and Parish. Catered by the Sea Catch Restaurant. From 6-9 PM. The Canal Square is at 31st Street NW and M Street in Georgetown.

Last night I took legendary photographer Lida Moser to a concert hosted by the The Folklore Society of Greater Washington.

It featured Bara Grimsdottir and Chris Foster. Foster is a singer of English traditional pub ballads while Grimsdottir is perhaps the world's best known singer of Icelandic saga and folk songs.

Tuesday, July 13, 2004

Public Art Call for Artists...

Deadline August 6, 2004

The City of San Jose, California has a call for artists for work on several capital improvement projects. They include a new police and fire facilities which include a public art component.

The anticipated public art budgets for two of the training facilities is $200,000 each for two training facilities and $1 million for a police substation. These budgets include design, fabrication, installation, and all costs associated with the public art.

Criteria: Aesthetic merit of past projects; appropriateness of artwork medium and artistic concepts as they relate to the project’s goals and setting; experience, success and interest in creating public artworks in collaboration with architects, design teams, and community members.

Contact: Brooke Jones, Office of Cultural Affairs - Public Art Program, 365 S. Market St., San José, CA 95113.

Grants for DC Area artists...

Deadline September 15, 2004.

The Franz and Virginia Bader Fund Grant invites visual artists (excluding filmmakers, video artists, and performance artists) to apply for grants to enable recipients to develop their talent and concentrate on their art. Artists must be 40 years or older, and must live within 150 miles of Washington, D.C.

Two grants will be awarded in 2004. Grants awarded in 2003 were for $25,000 and $20,000. Applications must be postmarked no later than September 15, 2004. To obtain a current application form, please visit the Fund's website or write to the Fund at 5505 Connecticut Avenue, NW #268, Washington, D.C. 20015. Send email inquiries to grants@baderfund.org

Grants and Awards for Maryland artists...

Deadline July 29, 2004.

Individual Artist Awards: Choreography, Music Composition, Playwriting, Poetry, Visual Arts: Crafts, Photography, Installation, Sculpture.

The Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Awards are grants awarded to Maryland artists through an anonymous, competitive process to encourage and sustain their pursuit of artistic excellence. A limited number of awards of $1,000, $3,000, and $6,000 are offered each year.

All work will be judged anonymously by out-of-state jurors whose decisions are based solely on artistic merit, as demonstrated in work completed after July 29, 2001.

Individuals who are Maryland residents, 18 years of age or older, may apply. Students currently enrolled in a degree program, and collaborating artists are not eligible to apply.

Application guidelines and forms are online here or call 410-767-6555 for more information.

(Next year’s categories: Fiction, Media, Solo Dance Performance, Solo Instrumental Performance, Solo Vocal Performance, Visual Arts: Painting, Works on Paper, New and Emerging Genre).

Opportunity for Artists...

Kensington Park Senior Living, is looking for artists to exhibit their artwork for a month. The artist will have a social hour to talk and demonstrate their art/talent and an article about the artist will be published in their monthly newsletter. If you are interested, please contact Kathy Ward, Therapeutic Recreation Director at 301-946-7700 or by e-mail at kward@Kensingtonretirement.com.

Kensington Park Senior Living
3620 Littledale Rd.
Kensington, MD 20895

Monday, July 12, 2004

A really nice profile in Art Times of Cuban-American painter Gabriela Dellosso, represented locally by us.

In case you missed it, last Thursday Leslie Walker had an article in the Washington Post discussing Art.com.

It is worth reading.

Founded a decade ago by two college students, art.com now employs 200 people working in a warehouse in Raleigh, NC, and its owners have apparently decided to branch into the original art, as so far art.com had concentrated on posters and reproductions.

Artists can display 16 original works on Art.com for free. People who want to buy the artwork then must negotiate directly with the artist through an e-mail link that Art.com provides.

Artists can also choose to pay $50 a year to display up to 96 images.

With five million visitors a month, and such low cost or free options, and with zero commission, I think that it is certainly worth a try!

Congratulations to Terry Teachout, who has been nominated to serve on the National Council on the Arts, the civilian panel that advises the NEA and its chairman, Dana Gioia.

Opportunities for artists...

Deadline: October 25, 2004.

Coker College's Cecelia Coker Bell Gallery is reviewing slides (all media) for solo shows 2005/06 season.

Ten slides, resume, and SASE by 10/25/04 to:
Larry Merriman
Coker College
300 East College Ave
Hartsville SC 29550

Slides returned late December. For a prospectus send SASE, or request it from lmerriman@coker.edu



Deadline: August 3, 2004.

Texas Artists Museum - Art Competition 10th Annual Gulf Coast National Juried Art Competition.

Open to anyone 18+ living in the USA. 2-D artwork only, no photography. Slides due August 3, 2004. Has an entry fee.

For prospectus send SASE to:
Texas Artists Museum
3501 Cultural Center Drive
Port Arthur TX 77642


Deadline: August 2, 2004

2004 Hoyt Art Center's Mid Atlantic Juried Art Show. Juror is Peter Plagens, Art Critic, Newsweek Magazine.

Entries are restricted to artists 21+ and living in the Mid Atlantic region of the United State (PA, OH, NY, NJ, MD, DE, VA, W. VA, and Washington DC).

All media will be considered with the following exceptions: No video or installations. There is a non refundable $25.00 entry fee for up to two works (3 works for Hoyt members) and an additional $5.00 fee for each additional work.

Exhibition Dates: Oct 5 - Nov 15, 2004. For a Prospectus send a
SASE to:
Bob Karstadt
Hoyt Institute of Fine Arts
124 E Leasure Ave
New Castle PA 16101

or call 724-652-2882 or email hoytprograms@hoytartcenter.org


Deadline: September 3, 2004

The 20th Annual National Juried Contemporary Art Exhibition.

Juror: Tina Kukielski, Contemporary Art Curatorial Dept, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

Cash awards/exhibition opportunities. Painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking, photography and mixed media. Send SASE for
prospectus to:

The Barrett Art Center
55 Noxon St
Poughkeepsie NY 12601

Or call 845-471-2550

There are a couple of new art galleries in the area. In Baltimore (thanks J.T) Billy Coulbert is in the process of opening Cubicle 10, and in Bethesda, the Ozmosis Gallery just opened last month.

Ozmosis Gallery focuses on abstract and non-objective works. Each month the gallery presents a new exhibition with an opening reception on the second Friday of the month. The opening receptions are from 6-9pm and are free and open to the public as well as being a stop on Bethesda’s Art Walk trolley route.

Currently on exhibition are paintings by Michaele Harrington to be followed in August by Elizabeth Terra.

Saturday, July 10, 2004

Sunday is the Bethesda Artist's Market. The market runs from 10am-5:30pm in the Bethesda Place Plaza located at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue. Nearly 30 local and regional artists will display and sell their original fine art and fine craft.

See ya there!

still from Fraser's Untitled video There's a Catholic school playground joke that goes like this:

A well dressed man approaches a woman, and after chatting her up a bit, asks her: "Will you have sex with me for one million dollars?"

"Yeah!" responds the woman.

"How about five bucks?" then asks the guy.

"Five bucks!," says the woman full of indignation, "What do you think I am?"

"We both know what you are," says the man, "We're just trying to arrive at a price."

In New York artist Andrea Fraser's case, it was $20,000.

Brilliant!

Prediction: Live sex as high art will be next.

Friday, July 09, 2004

Mendieta fron Tracks - by Chris Smith/Lee StalsworthJohn Perrault has a beautiful review and stories about Ana Mendieta and the Mendieta retrospective at the Whitney. Perrault knew Mendieta intimately, as he was a former teacher and friend.

Today's New York Times also has a review of the show by Holland Cotter. This second review, in my opinion, misses the point a bit, as it relies on the old art critic's crutch of writing mostly a biography about the artist to fluff up the review and add words.

An earlier New York Times review by Lesli Cahmi can be read here.

The show comes to Washington later this year at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

Tonite is the Bethesda Art Walk, with around fifteen art venues and galleries participating. The shuttle bus route is available online here.

And this coming Sunday is the Bethesda Artist Market. The market runs from 10am-5:30pm in the Bethesda Place Plaza located at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue. Nearly 30 local and regional artists will display and sell their original fine art and fine craft.

Free parking is available in the Wisconsin/Cheltenham garage. The event is also accessible by the Bethesda Metro station. Artists interested in participating in future events should download the entry form which is due July 23.

Thursday, July 08, 2004

The Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, located just south of Eastern Market at 545 7th Street, is a thirty-two year old organization building community through the arts with year-round classes, exhibits, and programs.

They are currently working with thirteen Capitol Hill restaurants on an upcoming benefit event, The Flavor of Capitol Hill: A Dining Event for the Arts. The event is planned for Thursday, July 15th with two restaurants participating on Saturday, July 17th.

To learn more about this event call Jen Carr at (202) 547-6839 or visit The Capitol Hill Arts Workshop's website.